Just to be clear, this was not a cruise. It should have been one, but the weather made it impossible for the boats to move because the water was too shallow. We spent a few nights in Wittenberg, busing and walking to daily adventures, and then bused to Dresden where we stayed for a few more nights aboard a sister ship, busing and walking to other adventures. Now for something different…

We packed last night and loaded onto the bus this morning. It was raining a bit, but in the next hour, on a short stretch of freeway, in a huge bus (you hear about tourist buses rolling over all the time), in torrential rain, we are off to Prague. Apparently, as part of the circus, when we get to Prague, they need to drop us off and zoom back to Germany to pick up other arriving guests for more boat-sleepovers (as we’re calling them), but for keeping us on the road in really slippery weather, we gave our fabulous bus driver an extra tip!

We’re staying at the Art Deco Hotel in Prague, where both Franz Kafka and Leos Janacek stayed, but probably not at the same time. This is the Imperial Cafe, part of the hotel. The famous table is the one where the lady in pink is sitting.  Ooo, so cool!

You can tell by the streets and the few umbrellas that old Prague had the magic of rain today. This is the old city gate, rebuilt and very Gothic.

This was the big attraction in the Old Town Square, the celestial clock. Around the lower part, encircled in white, are 1,000 names to choose from when naming your child. Each name corresponds with a date that becomes your child’s “naming date.” Every year after, your child will have two celebrations—one for their birthday and one of their naming day. Still done today—our guide told us of her celebrations.

The upper clock is so cool. It tells not only the hour, but the day and the month as well as the astrological sign and the length of the day. If you look closely, the top of the clock where the hands presently are shows the longer months of June, July, and August. Directly below are the shorter months of November, December, and January. Also, when the hour chimes, the two blue plaid doors at the top open up and inside, the figures of the apostles each take a turn peeking out at the crowd. It’s a small show after a long wait, but still charming!

There was a let-up in the weather by the time we got to the Charles Bridge (King Charles 1346-1378). Behind us the Lobkowisezky Palace, the really big attraction in town. It is the biggest castle complex in Europe.

This is an ordinary municipal building. There’s so much great architecture around here (very little destroyed in the war) that they use it all as needed.

The hotel was only a stop when we first came to town. There was a Viking room on the ground floor for us to dump all our carry-on bits. After reorganising, we were off again, this time on foot. We were going to take a 4-5mile walking tour of Prague. Since the weather had been awful on the drive in, we grabbed everything we had in hand for the walking tour—and needed every bit of it. Within five minutes of leaving the hotel, it started coming down. It rained hard for 30 minutes or so and then let up—what a beautiful, beautiful town center!  It stayed clear through lunch at a lovely little bistro that our guide found, but as soon as we stepped onto the street again, it came down hard, so hard and fast that we called off the last bit of the walk and headed to a waiting bus that took us back to the hotel. (Thank God!)

Pretty good start to the city. Tomorrow, more surprises!  We must rest up! Good night!